diff --git a/bindata/network/ovn-kubernetes/common/80-ipsec-master-extensions.yaml b/bindata/network/ovn-kubernetes/common/80-ipsec-master-extensions.yaml
index a432d8bae2..830248503b 100644
--- a/bindata/network/ovn-kubernetes/common/80-ipsec-master-extensions.yaml
+++ b/bindata/network/ovn-kubernetes/common/80-ipsec-master-extensions.yaml
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ spec:
 
          [Service]
          Type=oneshot
+         ExecStartPre=rm -f /etc/ipsec.d/cno.conf
          ExecStart=systemctl enable --now ipsec.service
 
          [Install]
diff --git a/bindata/network/ovn-kubernetes/common/80-ipsec-worker-extensions.yaml b/bindata/network/ovn-kubernetes/common/80-ipsec-worker-extensions.yaml
index 43f9a1bbeb..5acb18ef72 100644
--- a/bindata/network/ovn-kubernetes/common/80-ipsec-worker-extensions.yaml
+++ b/bindata/network/ovn-kubernetes/common/80-ipsec-worker-extensions.yaml
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ spec:
 
          [Service]
          Type=oneshot
+         ExecStartPre=rm -f /etc/ipsec.d/cno.conf
          ExecStart=systemctl enable --now ipsec.service
 
          [Install]
diff --git a/bindata/network/ovn-kubernetes/common/ipsec-host.yaml b/bindata/network/ovn-kubernetes/common/ipsec-host.yaml
index f0ecd632e3..4d9b882f86 100644
--- a/bindata/network/ovn-kubernetes/common/ipsec-host.yaml
+++ b/bindata/network/ovn-kubernetes/common/ipsec-host.yaml
@@ -239,38 +239,23 @@ spec:
           defaultcpinclude="include \/etc\/crypto-policies\/back-ends\/libreswan.config"
           if ! grep -q "# ${defaultcpinclude}" /etc/ipsec.conf; then
             sed -i "/${defaultcpinclude}/s/^/# /" /etc/ipsec.conf
-          fi
+            # since pluto is on the host, we need to restart it after changing connection
+            # parameters.
+            chroot /proc/1/root ipsec restart
 
-          # Use /etc/ipsec.d/cno.conf file to write our own default IPsec connection parameters.
-          # The /etc/ipsec.d/openshift.conf file can not be used because it is managed by openvswitch.
-          touch /etc/ipsec.d/cno.conf
-          if ! grep -q "narrowing=yes" /etc/ipsec.d/cno.conf; then
-          cat <<EOF > /etc/ipsec.d/cno.conf
-          # Default IPsec connection parameters rendered by network operator.
-          # The narrowing=yes is needed to narrow down the proposals exchanged
-          # by two peers to a mutually acceptable set, otherwise it sometimes
-          # have traffic hit between peer nodes.
-          conn %default
-              narrowing=yes
-          EOF
+            counter=0
+            until [ -r /run/pluto/pluto.ctl ]; do
+              counter=$((counter+1))
+              sleep 1
+              if [ $counter -gt 300 ];
+              then
+                echo "ipsec has not started after $counter seconds"
+                exit 1
+              fi
+            done
+            echo "ipsec service is restarted"
           fi
 
-          # since pluto is on the host, we need to restart it after changing connection
-          # parameters.
-          chroot /proc/1/root ipsec restart
-
-          counter=0
-          until [ -r /run/pluto/pluto.ctl ]; do
-            counter=$((counter+1))
-            sleep 1
-            if [ $counter -gt 300 ];
-            then
-              echo "ipsec has not started after $counter seconds"
-              exit 1
-            fi
-          done
-          echo "ipsec service is restarted"
-
           # Workaround for https://github.com/libreswan/libreswan/issues/373
           ulimit -n 1024
 
@@ -407,7 +392,7 @@ spec:
           # When east-west ipsec is not disabled, then do not flush xfrm states and
           # policies in order to maintain traffic flows during container restart.
           ipsecflush() {
-            if [ "$(kubectl get networks.operator.openshift.io cluster -ojsonpath='{.spec.defaultNetwork.ovnKubernetesConfig.ipsecConfig.mode}')" != "Full" ] || \
+            if [ "$(kubectl get networks.operator.openshift.io cluster -ojsonpath='{.spec.defaultNetwork.ovnKubernetesConfig.ipsecConfig.mode}')" != "Full" ] && \
                [ "$(kubectl get networks.operator.openshift.io cluster -ojsonpath='{.spec.defaultNetwork.ovnKubernetesConfig.ipsecConfig}')" != "{}" ]; then
               ip x s flush
               ip x p flush